“Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies.
Jacob's word to Asher turns from Gad's fighting to feasting. Commentators read this short line as a picture of Israel's coming plenty, and as a promise about what a well-fed person can pass on to others.
Abundance follows the battle
Asher's line comes straight after Gad, and the order is deliberate. The writers quoted here use an older wording, "royal dainties," where the ESV has "royal delicacies."
Hamilton SmithWhen the remnant look to the Lord for salvation, then the moment of deliverance is at hand. So Gad sets out a great fact. The godly remnant may be overcome at first and pass through great suffering. But in the end they will overcome. Abundance of blessing for the nation will follow, as shown by the "royal dainties" of Asher.
The whole chapter moves the same way — one writer traces the tribes as a story in two halves, failure first and then blessing, with Asher standing on the far side of that turn.
J. N. DarbyReuben, Simeon, and Levi are corrupt and violent; Judah is connected with God's purposes as to the royal line... then Dan is to judge his people... then Gad is overcome, but overcomes at last; and then all is power and blessing after that in Asher and Naphtali, in Benjamin and Joseph.
The name and the plenty
Asher's name carries the promise before the verse says a word.
L. M. GrantAsher was Zilpah's second son, and his name means "happy." The prophecy about him points to the rich provision God will make for the nation Israel — even "royal dainties" — when He restores them to their land in the millennium. What a wonderful contrast to their years of deprivation and desolation!
Rich food received, delicacies returned
The verse runs two ways. God spreads a table, and His people bring something back to Him.
An Outline of Sound WordsAsher speaks of the prosperity that follows. "His bread shall be fat." Israel enters the land with all its blessing from the Lord. There they enjoy what Isaiah 25 describes: "The Lord of hosts makes for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow. He will swallow up death forever, and will wipe away tears from all faces"... In response to the Lord's salvation and blessing, Israel gives Him "royal dainties" in return. Does the Lord not tell Israel in Numbers 28 which royal dainties please Him? There He says, "Command the people of Israel and say to them, My offering, My food for My food offerings, with a pleasing aroma to me."
Fed to feed others
The verb matters. Asher does not just eat well; he yields. One writer takes the point to the beehive.
The Bible Treasury"He shall yield royal dainties" too — not only taste them but supply others with them. What makes the queen bee so much larger and more regal than the rest? The food she is given early in life. Her egg and young larva are just the same as the others. Feeding on "royal dainties" is what makes her grow royal in body and mind. So those who nourish their spirits with royal dainties become royal in spirit.
Christ in Asher's territory
The promise also touched down on a map. One writer places Christ Himself inside Asher's territory, with nothing set out for Him at home.
The Bible TreasuryHe was in the territory of the tribe of Asher, of whom Jacob prophesied, "He shall yield royal dainties." So there was no table in Zion for David's Son. But there was one spread in the wilderness of Asher. There He had royal food to eat that Israel knew nothing of, and there were crumbs of grace for hungry Gentiles too.
Happiness that comes through affliction
Commentators differ here. Most read the verse of Israel's coming plenty; others draw a personal lesson from the names in Asher's family.
Leslie M. GrantAsher's prince was Pagiel, which means "event of God," and his father's name, Ocran, means "afflicted"... Asher means "happy." But even the blessing of Asher has to be tempered with God's dealings — events of God — to bring affliction. For true happiness always comes through suffering, little as we may appreciate this at first.
One writer finds that happiness in Anna, a woman of this tribe who had lost everything else.
Numerical Bible NotesAnna completes the number of these witnesses. Everything else has failed with her; but she has been brought into the wilderness only so that God may speak tenderly to her. She is a true child of Asher, the "happy," and of Phanuel, the "face of God." Her own name, Anna, means "grace." That name marks the principle of a life like hers, where fastings and prayers are nothing but love's service.
Summary
- Order — Asher stands after Gad on purpose. The remnant is overcome first, then overcomes; rich food waits on the far side of the fight.
- Name — "Asher" means happy. The verse promises the rich provision God will make when He restores Israel to the land, after their long deprivation.
- Received — the fat bread points to the feast the Lord Himself spreads, where He swallows up death and wipes away tears.
- Returned — what Asher yields goes up to God as offerings that please Him, and out to others. Those fed on royal food become royal in spirit.
- Reach — in Asher's own territory the rejected Christ found a table, and crumbs of that grace fell to hungry Gentiles. From the same tribe came Anna, happy in God when all else had failed.